DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AVIATION ACCIDENT INVESTIGATIONS.

SEC. 1065. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AVIATION ACCIDENT INVESTIGATIONS. (a) Report Required.— Not later than March 31, 1999, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to Congress a report on the roles of the Office of the Secretary of Defense and of the Joint Staff in the investigation of Department of Defense aviation accidents. (b) Content of Report.— The report shall include the following: 112 STAT. 2134 (1) An assessment of whether the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Staff should have more direct involvement in the investigation of military aviation accidents. (2) The advisability of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, or another Department of Defense entity independent of the military departments supervising the conduct of aviation accident investigations. (3) An assessment of the minimum training and experience required for aviation accident investigation board presidents and board members. (4) An assessment whether or not the procedures for sharing the results of military aviation accident investigations among the military departments should be improved. (5) An assessment of the advisability of centralized training and instruction for military aircraft accident investigators. (c) Uniform Regulations for Provision of Accident Investigation Update Information.— The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe regulations, which shall be applied uniformly across the Department of Defense, establishing procedures by which the military departments shall provide to the family members of any person involved in a military aviation accident periodic update reports on the conduct and progress of investigations into the accident.